James Knox Polk Stone (1867 - 1913)

Born 1867 in Groesbeck, Limestone, Texas, United States

Ancestors

Descendants

Died 10 Oct 1913 at about age 46 in Amarillo, Potter, Texas, United States

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Biography

James was born about 1867.

He is listed in the 1870 census as a 3 year old child living with his parents, brother Andrew, grandmother, aunt, uncle, and a Mr Spillis, possibly his uncle.^[1]

He is listed in the 1880 census as a 12 year old son of his parents Micajah and Sarah, living with brother John Andrew 10, Martha M 7, William H 6, Lilly 1, and grandmother Sarah^[2]

James Polk Stone came to eastern New Mexico in 1885, as a cowboy, with his father Micajah, and younger brother Andrew. Jim worked at the DZ Ranch for the privilege of branding and owning the calves that followed his father’s cows. The DZ Ranch’s cowboys gathered cattle as far south as Carlsbad and drove them to Fort Sumner, NM; Dodge City, KS; and later, Amarillo, Texas. In 1896, he moved to the Running Water Draw nine miles north of the present site of Clovis. In 1897 he married Lula Beasley and moved her to his home 40 miles from the nearest woman, who lived at the DZ Ranch near Arch. Forty miles was a very long day’s ride by horse and wagon. Every several months, the husbands would get the two women together so they could talk and talk and talk. In approximately 1900, the railroad came to Portales, bringing many people, including women. Mr. & Mrs. J. P. Stone then moved to Portales, where Mrs. Stone distinguished herself as a leader in Portales society and its various organizations. She was actively involved in the Women’s Club, the First Methodist Church, United Daughters of the Confederacy and was the first woman in the state of New Mexico to serve on a school board. Mrs. Stone was on the local school board before women had been granted the right to vote. James (Jim) P. Stone founded the Bank of Portales in 1902, which was the first bank in Roosevelt County. He later changed the name to Citizens Bank and then merged it into the First National Bank of Portales. Jim founded the Portales Bank and Trust located at the present site of the Tower Theater. He founded the First National Bank at Elida on August 30, 1906, which later became the Portales National Bank.

He also founded the First National Banks located at Ft. Sumner, New Mexico, and in Hereford, Texas.

In 1910 he is listed as the 42 year old head of household with wife Lula age 33, son Jim age 11, daughter Gladys age 8, daughter Roma age 5, and son Douglas, an infant. They also have a servant, Margie Burton, age 39. ^[3]

Jim died in 1913 at the age of 46, owning an 87,000-acre ranch in Bailey County, Texas, 5,000 head of cattle and five banks. Not bad for a man with a fifth grade education who came to New Mexico owning only the shirt on his back and the horse between his legs. His death certificate indicates he died of a ruptured gallbladder 10 Oct 1913 in Amarillo, Texas. The story told is that his gallbladder ruptured at home and it took him several days to get a wagon to the train, then a train to the closest hospital in Texas, dying upon arrival. He was a ranchman and banker, and was buried in his hometown of Portales, New Mexico.^[4]

^[5]

Sources

1. ↑ https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MXG3-XBG
2. ↑ https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33S7-9YBK-9N9Y?mode=g&cc=1417683
3. ↑ https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33S7-9RV7-9GV?i=25&cc=1727033
4. ↑ https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33SQ-GY1H-9PK7?mode=g&i=295&cc=1983324
5. ↑ About us. "[1]." The James Polk Stone Community Bank. Accessed 24 Mar 2017.

https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/9H9M-VMH See also:

• JP Stone family history.